Postal-bag rack



' Y (No Model.) Z'Shets-Sheet 1.

0.11.- HARRISON.

POSTAL'BAGRA'GVK. I

Patented Pgbl 5,4884.

N. PETERS, Plwlo-Lilhugmphcr, Washingtun, n. c.

(No Model.) I 2 S.heets-Sheet 2';

0 R. HARRISON.

. POSTAL BAG RAGKQ m a M j Win/asses;

A i UNITnn STATES PATENT Gr mes.

onannns n. I-IARRISON,OF FOND. DU LAC, Wisconsin.

POSTAL- BAG RACK.

SPECIFICATIQN forming'part of Letters Patent No. 292,911, dated February5, 1881 Application filed December 5, 1683. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES 11. IIARRL son, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Fond du Lac, in the county of Fond 'du Lac and Stateof lVisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Postal-BagRacks, of which the following is a specification.

I have heretofore invented and patented apparatus for distributing mail,consisting, substantially, of metallic bag-racks, and my invention nowrelates to improvements in these postal-bag racks, in which sections aremade movable, and swung open from either side thereof by means ofcasters in conjunction with lihklfinges and shunts, and in whichmortised hook-shanks operate in conjunction with pins or pegs in therack-rods; and the objects of my improvements are, first, to provideconvenient passage ways through the line of racks by detachable swingingsections;

second, to relieve and turn the casters into the curved track of theswinging sections; and, third, to provide a uniform and secure openingto the mouths of the bags. I attain these objects by the mechanismillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is atopview of the apparatus with one section swung open and another closed,-the dotted lines 2 2 showing the lines or tracks of movement. swingingsections with its parts; Fig. 3, a section of the swinging rack. Fig. atis a front view of the rack-rod provided with the pins or pegs andhooks; and Fig. 5, a vertical crosssection of the mortised hook, thepin, and rack-rod. I

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the views. e

The platform A supports the movable rack section, and is mounted uponcasters a a,.and hinged by means of slotted eyes (I d with hingebolts 0c. This hinge belt or pin is firmly driven into or attached to the floorof the room at the outer corners of the platform or movable section A.The link or eye (Z is affixed to and on a plane with the platform ateither outer corner thereof, and when engaged with the pin e on eithercorner forms a hinge, upon which turns the movable rack-section, openingto the right or left, as its hinge may be Fig. 2 is aground plan of theadjusted; but the casters a a, being heavily loaded, will have atendency to a straight line in their movement forward, and must cramp,if the hinge or pivot d e be rigid in its action. The casters must beguided in the curved track 2 2 required by the swing of thesection. Iaccomplish this by means of the slotted form of the hinge-bolt e in theeye and a movement of the section laterally with reference to the line 22, so that the pressure .of the cramped casters crowds the rack-sectionlaterally, and so moves the socket of the caster-shank (which is affixedto the bottom of the platform A) to one side, thus turning and guidingthe casterwheels in the curved track. When closing the movable section,the pressure of the cast ers throws the platform away. front thefixedrack m to the limit of the slot (1, which would cause the sectionto overlap the fixed rack at the corner or face diagonally opposite thehinge. I meet this difficulty and throw the platform back to place bymeans of the cam or curved block f, affixed to the platform A at theoutsides of the swinging section, and when closing this cam meets andslides over the block or stop 9, which is affixed firmly to the floornear the outside corner of the fixed rack 00. This engagement of the camf with the stop g throws the moving section back to its place whenclosed.

The further improvement is to prevent the of the jarring and increasingweight of the mail-bags while being filled; and it consists of affixingto the rack-rods y at proper intervals pegs or pins 0, which may besmall screws with round heads passed into and through the rod on itsfront face, leaving the head projecting, as shown in Figs. at and 5. Atransverse mortise b, large enough to allow the pin or screw-head O topass freely through it, is ,cut in the shank of the hook at the lowerpartof its ring, so that by turning the hook upward it will slide on therod over the pin through the mortise. its perpendicular position, itisheld to place by the pins 0, and prevented from working or slipping onthe rod, and so narrowing or closing the mouth of the bag.

Having thus shown the nature and construcor ellipse of the hinge-eye cl,allowing a play hooks B slipping toward each other by reason Vhen thehook is dropped to tion of my improvements, I claim as my inl of thehook B, having a mortise, b, in its shank, vention and desire to secureby Letters Patand ring, with the pins or pegs O in the rack ent rod 7substantially as shown, for the purpose I 5 1. In a postal-bag rack, thecombination of specified. 5 a movable section or sections opening either4:. The hook B, having in its ring and shank Way, with the fixedrack-sections m m, substanthe transverse mortiseb,substantially asshown,

tially as and for the purposes set forth. for the purpose specified.

2. The combination ina movable rack-sccp 7 T tion, of the platform A,casters a a, elliptic CHARLES HARRISON 1o hinge-eye d, pivot e, cam f,and block sub- Witncsses:

stantially as shown, for the purpose specified. J. COLEMAN,

3, The combination, in a postal-bag rack, KENJAMIN STILXCHAN.

